Blogging
Is This One Single Belief Stopping You from Earning More Money in Your Online Business?
“Tell me the niche you’re publishing in now, and I’ll show you someone who is selling the same basic content and likely making more money than you … That’s the simple solution to making money with content that has been around for centuries, and it’s still going strong. If you want to make money with content, charge for it.”
- Brian Clark, Copyblogger and Teaching Sells
One common obstacle to earning a steady income online is the belief that you don’t have anything valuable to offer in exchange for money. I know this, because I used to believe it myself. But I was dead wrong. You may be too.
What follows is a personal story that I hope will not only educate and inspire you, but will also help shatter this limiting belief so you can start earning more money from your efforts to make a difference in the world.
10 Brilliant Examples of How to Open Your Next Blog Post With a Bang
“The most important sentence in any article is the first one. If it doesn’t induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead. And if the second sentence doesn’t induce him to continue to the third sentence, it’s equally dead. Of such a progression of sentences, each tugging the reader forward until … safely hooked, a writer constructs that fateful unit: the lead.” – William Zinsser, On Writing Well
With respect, I must disagree with Mr. Zinsser. We all know the most important part of an article is the title. Without a compelling title, your reader won’t get to the first sentence. After the title, however, the first few sentences are certainly the most important part.
Journalists call this critical introductory section the “lede,” and when properly executed, it’s the bridge that carries your reader from an attention-grabbing headline into the body of your blog post.
If you want to get it right, try one of these 10 clever ways to open your next blog post with a bang.
Break Through Blogger’s Block With These 10 Creative Tactics to Generate Topics for Blog
This is a guest post from Laura Bell, a freelance writer and social media activist.
You got the memo about blogging loud and clear. You know that blogging can improve traffic to your site, build lasting relationships and help convert those relationships into sales. You even know that you should consistently create new content and use that SEO stuff.
But, what on earth do you write about each day? How can you consistently come up with new material that your readers will actually want to read?
Take a breath. You are not alone. With minimal effort on your part, you are probably sitting on a gold mine of really great topics and you don’t even know it. When the ideas are running dry, try these 10 tips for generating blog topics for your small business blog.
Why Choosing a Niche is Critical to Your Success in Blogging and Business
Regardless of the type of online business you operate (or want to start), there’s one “secret ingredient” that can make the difference between success and failure. Before I tell you what it is though, I’ll share a story from my past that helps illustrate the principle.
It was early 2006. I had just sold a blog called Small Business Branding, and I was moving on to a new business venture I’d named Solostream Global Media. Initially, Solostream was supposed to be a blog network focused on the needs of solo-entrepreneurs. I quickly realized, however, that operating a blog network was more than I could handle, so midway through 2006, I switched gears with Solostream.
I enjoyed web design and felt competent enough that I could do it professionally, so I decided to make Solostream a web design company. My problem, however, was there were hundreds of thousands of web designers out there, and I’d have a hard time making a name for myself with all the competition. So I knew I needed to be more specific about the type of web design services I would offer.
20 Questions for Zen Habits Super-Blogger Leo Babauta
Leo Babauta’s Rise to Fame
In January 2007, Leo Babauta launched his blog – ZenHabits – to share what he’d learned about simple living, changing habits and how to create an amazing life. With a full-time job, a part-time freelance writing career and a wife and six kids, he had no free time, no money to invest and little knowledge about blogging. But that didn’t stop him.
Fueled by his singular goal to liberate himself from his full-time job, Leo went to work writing great content day-after-day. He wrote 3-5 weekly blog posts for ZenHabits, as well as multiple guest posts and freelance posts for other major blogs in his niche.
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